IS THIS DISCRIMINATION? Georgetown University Giving PRIORITY Admission to the Descendants of Slaves

What the school did in the past was terrible, no one is denying that. But treating one race differently based on their ancestors, isn’t that also discrimination? Check out the details and give us your thoughts.

Georgetown University will award preferential status in the application process to descendants of slaves whose labor benefited the university, The New York Times reported.

In 1838, the school sold 272 men, women, and children for about $3.3 million in today’s dollars. The money helped keep the university open during a period of financial difficulty.

The school also plans to build a memorial for the slaves, create an institute on slavery, and name two campus buildings after African-Americans.

In addition, John J. DeGioia, the president of Georgetown University, will offer a formal apology for the university’s participation in slavery.

The announcement follows months of discussion on the proper steps the university should take to make amends for the benefits it reaped from slavery. No other university appears to offer the same advantage, according to The Times.

Still, on the issue of financial repayment, the university has remained tight-lipped. Georgetown has not indicated if it will award scholarships to the descendants of the enslaved — a possibly raised by the Working Group on Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation, a committee DeGioia constructed last year to address the university’s relationship with slavery.